1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dental appliances in general, and, more particularly, to a dental appliance that combines a jaw rest with a high volume ejector that removes saliva, cooling water, blood, pumice, and spray from the mouth of a dental patient, thus not only removing these elements which contribute to patient discomfort, but also eliminating a means by which diseases such as AIDS may be transmitted from the patient to others.
2. Background Art
During dental and oral surgical procedures, the patient is typically in a supine or semi-supine position which causes saliva to accumulate in the mouth. This saliva is difficult to swallow because of the patient's position, because the patient's mouth is open, and because dental instruments are inserted in the patient's mouth. Additionally, modern high-speed cutting instruments usually require a stream of water to be directed onto the cutting surface for cooling. Further, blood and pumice may accumulate as a result of the dental or surgical procedures.
As anyone who has been a dental patient well knows, there is also a considerable amount of spray of saliva, blood, and other matter that exits the patient's mouth during many of the procedures. This spray, while being esthetically unpleasant, also has the more serious consequence of being a potential disease carrier. This places at risk, not only the doctor and any assistants present, but also places at risk subsequent patients who may come into contact with the airborne spray or with surfaces in the area which are contaminated with the spray but are not adequately sterilized between patients. It has become well known that, among other diseases, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) may be communicated between humans by the transfer of blood.
A second problem that the dental patient and the doctor well know is the difficulty the patient has in keeping his mouth sufficiently open for relatively extended periods of time during the procedure. This increases the stress on the patient in an inherently stressful situation and provides for more difficult working conditions for the doctor and any assistants.
Both these problems have been addressed by various devices. The various conventional saliva ejectors generally adequately remove saliva, although sometimes from very localized areas of the mouth. Those that are not hand-held must be uncomfortably supported by the patient's lips or cheeks or the floor of the patient's mouth. All are limited in the volume of the oral cavity serviced and in the volume of air flow, so that none is directed to, or capable of, the collection of, and prevention of the escape of, spray from the patient's mouth. Many have the unpleasant disadvantage of being able to draw soft tissue of the patient's mouth into the suction device.
There have also been an number of jaw rest devices of varying design some of which have been combined with saliva ejectors. However, all of these ejectors suffer from the limitations described above.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a combination jaw rest and ejector that is comfortable and quickly and easily inserted in the patient's mouth.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a combination jaw rest and ejector that substantially prevents the discharge of spray, blood, and debris from the patient's mouth.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a combination jaw rest and ejector that is adjustable to accommodate different mouth configurations and degrees of desired opening of the mouth.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a combination jaw rest and ejector that substantially prevents the sucking of soft tissue into the device.
Yet an additional object of the present invention is to provide a combination jaw rest and ejector that may be easily sterilized for reuse or is economical enough that it may be disposed of after a single use.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a combination jaw rest and ejector that includes means for illuminating the interior of the patient's mouth.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a combination jaw rest and ejector system that includes illumination means and a combination air flow/light switch.